Injured Ballack key to Germany-Spain

VIENNA, Austria — It's time for Michael Ballack to finally deliver for Germany and bring back a title — provided he can get onto the field Sunday.

ROBERT MILLWARD

VIENNA, Austria — It's time for Michael Ballack to finally deliver for Germany and bring back a title — provided he can get onto the field Sunday.

The talented but inconsistent midfielder owes the three-time winner a big performance when Germany faces Spain in Sunday's European Championship final. Otherwise, the nation that has also won three World Cups and been one of the game's most consistent powerhouses is guaranteed to go at least 14 years without a title.

But Ballack, who limped through the last World Cup with a calf muscle injury, now has another. The influential midfielder, whose accurate shooting, strength in the air and knack of scoring vital goals has carried Germany for six years, missed two days training leading up to the final.

If he's out, it could be all over for Germany.

Even if Ballack is fit, Spain is already favored to win the game because it has possibly the most talented midfield in international football. That's why the German captain is so important. If he is in top form and can dominate Cesc Fabregas and Xavi Hernandez, Germany has a big chance. If he doesn't dictate and the game passes him by, then Spain should be on its way to its first title for 44 years.

But this is no time to be limping

Germany's last title was at the 1996 Euros at the old Wembley Stadium, three months after Ballack debuted for the Under-21 team against Denmark. He played only 63 minutes of Euro 2000 when the Germans were knocked out in the first round and, after he scored important goals against the United States and South Korea, was suspended for the final of the 2002 World Cup in Yokohama, when his team lost 2-0 to Brazil.

At the 2004 Euros, Ballack was clearly the best player in a German lineup that again was knocked out in the first round. After that disaster, new coach Juergen Klinsmann made him captain and he made his mark. On home turf, Germany reached the semifinal of the 2006 World Cup, but was knocked out by Italy.

Now Ballack is running out of chances and no one knows whether he will produce one of his best performances at the Ernst Happel Stadium on Sunday, or another letdown. Or not even play.

He was one of the goal-scoring stars of the 3-2 quarterfinal victory over Portugal, but was far from his best in the semifinal victory over Turkey.

Franz Beckenbauer, one of the game's greats who captained and coached German teams to World Cup victories and was a winner and a loser in Euro finals, believes Ballack's performance is vital to the team's chances of overcoming Spain's top quality midfield.

"I have a good feeling for Ballack. It's a great chance for him to win his first major title," Beckenbauer said. "That's what he's running for, that's what he's fighting for. He's the absolute leader and he conducts the team on the field. Michael Ballack is the key to victory in the game against Spain."

Maybe Beckenbauer didn't know about the injury. It was also kept from the media on Friday, but it came out when there was no sign of the German captain at Saturday's practice session in the stadium.

"For two days he has not been able to train," coach Joachim Loew said of Ballack at Saturday's news conference. "We have to see how it develops overnight. They are working round the clock on him. We have to seriously consider what will happen if Ballack will not be able to play."

The Spaniards know how influential Ballack is to Germany and what a boost it would be if he doesn't play. They have also had to shuffle their starting lineup.

Because of an injury to the championship's top scorer, David Villa, coach Luis Aragones almost certainly will field five in midfield — the same five who outplayed Russia 3-0 in Thursday's semifinal in Vienna.

That means Ballack will have to counter the attacking threat of Fabregas, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and David Silva, as well as get past Marcos Senna, one of the most impressive defensive midfielders in the competition.

With that sort of talent to contend with Loew may decide to also field five in midfield, with only Miroslav Klose in attack. Torsten Frings will have Thomas Hitzlsperger for company in front of the defense, with Bastian Schweinsteiger raiding on the right and Lukas Podolski on the left.

That may look like a congested battle in the middle of the field, but Spain's midfielders have the ability to thread passes to each other and up to Fernando Torres, who is likely to be the lone striker despite a poor performance in the semifinal against the Russians.

Torres, who scored 33 goals for Liverpool in the season just ended, is overdue for a good performance and likely will give an occasionally shaky German defense a tough time Sunday. Spain probably will get the best of the goalkeeping matchup, too.

Iker Casillas has been consistent, while Germany's Jens Lehmann, whose international career is close to an end at age 38, has had his usual mixture of comical blunders and blocking saves.

Ballack's absence would be a decisive factor and, even if he plays, he may not be fully fit.

PICK: Spain, 2-0.

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